Bring Our Workshops to Your Local

We can bring many of the topics covered in our conferences to your local.  We will work with you to design customized workshops that fit your exact needs.  Workshops can be arranged using per-student tuition assistance programs or through a flat fee.  Formats can range from quick two-hour overviews to half-day training to in-depth full day or multi-session programs.  Below is a list of sample topics.  Contact us to learn about our full range of possibilities.

Collective Bargaining

Explore the negotiation process and how to build your package for negotiation, create a win-win situation, and conduct yourself as a negotiator. Learn internal and external factors that contribute to the negotiating climate.

Grievance Handling

Become an effective grievance handler. Learn all the steps of the grievance procedure, how to function as an agent for conflict resolution, and review your duties as an Educator, Organizer, Negotiator, and Counselor.  Customize this program to orient new stewards and/or to improve the skills of existing grievance handlers.

Parliamentary Procedure

Unions, corporations, and civic groups all use parliamentary procedure to run their meetings.  Do folks need to learn how to run your meetings effectively?  Do you want members to better understand what goes on at meetings and to participate in constructive ways?  We can shape this training to meet your needs around effective union meetings.

Building Strength Through Diversity

America is a melting pot and so is your workplace. Do your members vary be age, race, gender, sexual orientation, skill levels, prior workplaces, or union experience?  You want to use this diversity as a source of strength for your union, rather than tension.  Learn how to engage all your members in building the union.

Sexual Harassment

Know which interactions constitute a violation of the sexual harassment laws. Everything you need to know to avoid appearing in court or in a grievance procedure as a defendant in a sexual harassment charge.

Your Union: Where Have We Come From, Where Are We Heading

We provide customized labor history with a purpose.  By exploring the origins and development of your union we motivate members to become more involved.  Along the way we help participants understand the strategic environment within which your union operates, the importance of union political action, and the possibilities for building a stronger future.  This program can include time for your leadership to directly engage in a conversation with participants about the union’s priorities and opportunities to get involved.

Politics As If People Mattered

Is “politics” a dirty word to many of your members?  This workshop cuts through the party labels and media rancor to get at what members really care about: how government impacts them.  By understanding public power and policy and the nature of our nation’s and state’s corporate power structure members come to realize the importance of union political action and the crucial role their volunteer activities can play in changing the course of our municipalities, state and nation.

Common Sense Economics

One of our staff helped develop parts of the AFL-CIO’s Common Sense Economics program.  We can customize these modules to directly speak to the bargaining and political environment facing your union and help you design the call to action that will get your members more involved in the local.

Building Effective Committees

Do you have existing committees that you want to get more active?  Is there a new committee or taskforce that you need to accomplish specific goals?  This hands-on program leads participants through the process of evaluating their goals and developing a concrete action plan.  Along the way we can help your activists build their skills around effective meeting facilitation, member engagement, communication, volunteer motivation and management, and getting things done. 

Train-the-Trainer

Future trainers, learn all the tools necessary to become an effective trainer and meeting leader. Practice public speaking, presentation, small group, and facilitation skills.